When There's Nothing Else To Cling To
by Kella
Summary: YES! I actually uploaded chap 7! wow! When the lights literally go out at Hogwarts, Hermione is drawn into a world she doesn’t know to face an evil she never even dreamed possible. It will take Ron’s determination and Harry’s bravery to save her, bu
1. When Light Turns to Dark

When There's Nothing Else To Cling To  
  
Chapter One: When Light Turns to Dark  
  
co-written by GoldenPhoenix and WitchGirl  
  
A/N: When there was a black out, me and GoldenPhoenix were inspired to write this piece. We were trapped in McDonald's for an hour! We had plenty of different titles for it and finally settled on this one.  
  
Disclaimer: We own nothing!  
  
It was all Hallows Eve, and the three friends were happily looking forward to the annual feast as they walked down the brightly-lit hall. There was laughter and joy everywhere, and no one was expecting what was going to happen next.   
  
"Good evening," Nearly Headless Nick said cheerfully, "The moon is full tonight and isn't it beautiful?"  
  
"You sure are in a good mood tonight," Ron said.  
  
"Well, as you know it is my Death Day, and nothing can put me down, not even 'properly decapitated' Podmore."  
  
"Well, that's great!" exclaimed Hermione.   
  
As they approached the Great Hall, the torches and candles began to go out one by one, and the joy and laughter went with them.   
  
"What was that?" asked Nick.  
  
"The wind?" Harry suggested.  
  
"What kind of wind does that?" Ron replied.   
  
"Lumos!" Harry declared. Nothing happened.  
  
"Oh, let me try!" Hermione said, whipping out her wand, "Lumos!" she cried, but her wand just stood there like a useless twig. All over the Entrance Hall students were shouting the same things at their wands, but the room was still pitch black.  
  
"Do you hear that?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Hear what?" Ron said.  
  
"That sort of strange classical music."  
  
"Noooooooo..."  
  
"That music..." Hermione began to walk off thoughtfully, as if she was in a trance.   
  
"Where's she going?" asked Harry.  
  
"Dunno," replied Ron. "But I think all those books have finally gone to her head."  
  
"We should follow her..." They walked around trying to find Hermione.  
  
"Hermione?"  
  
"No! I'm Parvati!"  
  
"Oh, sorry. OW!"  
  
"Sorry," said Ron who had just stepped on Harry's foot.  
  
"Hermione?"  
  
"Do I look like Hermione to you?"  
  
"I don't know! I can't see a thing!"  
  
"I'm Lavender!"  
  
"Jeez, sorry!"  
  
"Can you make out the staircase, Harry?"  
  
"Um, I think so," said Harry, squinting as if the staircase was far away. They inched their way towards it, through the bustling crowd. They saw a figure going up the staircase.   
  
"Hermione?" There was no answer. They came closer to the figure and realized that it was female. But they couldn't see her face as she was to far ahead of them.  
  
"Hermione?"  
  
"What? Oh...yeah..." She climbed steadily on. And the two boys followed her.   
  
"Looks like she's heading for the library," Harry said. He heard Ron mutter something that sounded awfully like, "typical".  
  
  
Hermione entered the library. Something about the music was calling to her. No one was in the library, not even Madam Pince. But she'll be out lighting the torches again... She walked through countless rows of books, coming ever closer to the source of the mysterious music.  
  
  
Harry and Ron rushed into the library where they had seen Hermione enter seconds before. They looked around, but Hermione was no where to be seen. The only figure in the library was the ancient Madam Pince, sorting, er, trying to sort papers at a table near by.  
  
"Madam Pince, did you see Hermione come in here a second ago?" Ron asked.  
  
"What? No! Go away!" she answered angrily.   
  
"Ok, ok," Ron said, backing away slowly. Harry and Ron exited the library.  
  
"But I could have sworn..."  
  
"I know, I saw her, too," Ron interrupted, "But she'll turn up, probably she will have forgotten all about that music she keeps hearing."  
  
  
"Why are the torches out?! This has never happened before!" Dumbledore paced angrily in the staff room.  
  
"Oh, headmaster, please! It's only a loss of light. Nothing can happen!" Sprout reminded him.  
  
"A lot can happen in the dark without any one knowing a thing," Dumbledore replied, calmly, "Now have those torches lit!"  
  
"We would," McGonagall put in, "Except there's one problem: They won't light,"  
  
  
Hermione walked slowly down an aisle of books and stopped behind a large blue one , which seemed to be vibrating. The music was louder then ever and Hermione took down the book, entitled 'the Greatest Works of Mozart,' which she thought was a very peculiar book to have in the library. She opened it and as she flipped through the scores of music on the pages, the melody would play to the scores, as if reading them. Hermione shut the book abruptly and the music stopped. There was silence all around her. When she returned to the Entrance Hall, it was empty and Hermione figured that they were all in the Great Hall. She crossed the Entrance Hall slowly.  
  
  
Harry and Ron returned to the Entrance Hall, still filled with students, and tiny Flitwick was trying to take control with no success. He ordered them into the Great Hall and Harry and Ron followed the sea of people into it. All they could do was sit down and look at the food before them (which they could barley see) because everyone's appetite had disappeared in the light of the situation.   
  
  
Hermione was confused at the sight of the Great Hall. It was deserted and the five tables were covered with dust and cobwebs.  
  
It looks like no one's been here for years...  
  
She made her way to the Gryffindor table, which was hard because she slipped often on the dust-covered floor. She sat down and as she did something made her stand up again in fright.  
  
"Hermione..."  
  
"Who is it? Who's there?"  
  
"Hermione..." called the voice again. It was cold and high-pitched. Hermione ran out of the Great Hall and tried to make her way to the common room. Something was definitely going wrong at Hogwarts.  



	2. When Fear Conquers Hope

When There's Nothing Else to Cling to  
  
Chapter 2: When Fear Conquers Hope.  
  
Co-written by GoldenPhoenix and WitchGirl  
  
A/N: When there was a black out, me and GoldenPhoenix were inspired to write this piece. We were trapped in McDonald's for an hour! We had plenty of different titles for it and finally settled on this one.  
  
Disclaimer: We own nothing!  
  
  
"Get all the students back to their common rooms IMEADIATELY!" demanded Dumbledore.  
  
"Sir, it's only a small power failure. It's nothing to-"  
  
"Oh it's everything to worry about, Minerva. Everything indeed..."  
  
  
Professor McGonagall had ordered all the students to go back to their common rooms and that was where Harry and Ron were now. McGonagall began to count to see how many people were in the room.  
  
"We're missing someone! Where's Miss Granger?"  
  
"We don't know, Professor, we saw her go to the library, but when we entered after her, she was gone," Harry told her. McGonagall's eyes widened.  
  
"Stay here!" she ordered, and left the common room.  
  
"Why do you think she's so worried?" Harry asked Ron.  
  
"Dunno. Do you think something could have happened to Hermione?"  
  
"If so, she can handle it... I think..."  
  
  
"Is everyone accounted for?" Dumbledore asked the staff.  
  
"Slytherin's all there," Snape reported, as if he thought the whole thing was a bit strange.  
  
"Hufflepuff, too,"  
  
"Every one's there in Ravenclaw," Flitwick piped in. McGonagall was silent.  
  
"Minerva? Is Gryffindor full?"  
  
"Headmaster, we are missing a young sixth year girl..."  
  
"Who, Minerva, we need names!"  
  
"Miss Hermione Granger, sir,"  
  
"Then what I fear is true. So he has returned to Hogwarts..."  
  
  
It was midnight and McGonagall was acting very strange. Whenever Harry and Ron asked her about Hermione, she would pretend she hadn't heard them. This was when Ron thought it was time to take action.  
  
"Look, I know that Hermione can take care of herself, but there are times that even miss know-it-all needs help," he said to Harry, "And I'm going to help her."  
  
"But Ron, we have to stay in the common room!"  
  
"Oh please! You sound like Hermione!" and with that Ron grabbed Harry's arm, and pulled him up to their dormitory.  
  
"Why'd you bring me here?" Harry asked.  
  
"You don't expect us to go around the school saying 'look at us! Look at us! We're breaking the rules!' Do you? We need the invisibility cloak, you big git!"  
  
"Gee, someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!" Harry said, taking out his invisibility cloak.  
  
"OK, now let's go!" Ron whispered and he and Harry pulled on the invisibility cloak and sneaked out into the cold, dark hall...  
  
  
Hermione went to where the fat lady was supposed to be, but no picture hung on the wall. There was just a hole leading into the next room. She entered and noticed that no one was here, either. The fireplace seemed unused and old and the room was cold and drafty. She felt as if she were in a deserted building and all the while, she kept hearing:  
  
"Hermione... Hermione..." She could feel the chills running up and down her spine and she knew that each and every one of the hairs on the back of her neck was standing on end.  
  
What is going on? she asked herself, but of course, there was no answer...   
  
She felt very cold all of a sudden and held her robes tighter around her, clutching them as if they were the only things that kept her from loosing her mind. All of a sudden, she felt an ice cold hand slither onto her shoulder...  
  
  
"Hermione?" Ron asked, tapping a girl on the shoulder, and pulling off the invisibility cloak. She shrieked in fright and jumped around.  
  
"YOU!" Harry screamed, "What are you doing here?!" Pansy Parkinson glared at Harry and Ron with malice.  
  
"I was looking for my cat! You idiots scared me! What are you doing here?"  
  
"We were looking for our friend," Ron said, with the same nasty bite Pansy had spoken with.  
  
"Yeah, some friend," she muttered, looking happy and walked off. Harry and Ron put the cloak back on and continued their search.  
  
  
"Where was Miss Granger last seen?" Dumbledore demanded.  
  
"She was seen by Potter and Weasley entering the library. When they went in after her, she wasn't there," McGonagall responded.  
  
"Then that is where he did it. I want you to bring Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley to me," Dumbledore said and McGonagall nodded and headed to the Gryffindor Tower.  
  
  
Hermione screamed as loud as she could and turned around, quickly. But her panic was for nothing for no body was there.  
  
I must be loosing my mind! she thought. She was scared; more scared than she had ever been in her life. She didn't know where she was, she didn't know what was happening, and she didn't know how to get back to the Hogwarts she knew.  
  
"HARRY!" she called at the top of her lungs, "RON! PROFESSOR!" but the sound just echoed through the large, damp, and unpopulated hallway. Empty.  
  
"Malfoy?" she said, sarcastically, as if that were the last person to answer and hoping he wouldn't. She had no idea what to do! She just kept wandering deeper and deeper into the maze that was Hogwarts. Or was it?  
  
  
"Did you hear that?" Ron turned to Harry.  
  
"I think so..." Harry replied uncertainly. They had heard a scream as if from far off.  
  
"You don't think-" Ron started.  
  
"It sure sounded like--" Harry interrupted.  
  
"Hermione," they said together and raced off to where they thought the voice had come from.  
  
  
"Crabbe, did you say my name?" Malfoy turned to his big gooney in the Slytherin common room. His comrade just grunted and shook his large, empty head.  
  
"Goyle?"  
  
"Huh?" he grunted, not having paid attention.  
  
"Never mind," Malfoy snarled spitefully and shook his head in embarrassment, "I know someone said something!"  
  
  
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T FIND THEM?" Dumbledore roared.  
  
"They have gone! Disappeared! No one has seen them! You know, can't find means unable to locate! Do I have to spell it out for you?" McGonagall was very annoyed.  
  
"I do believe that you don't understand the danger, Minerva! There are childrens' lives at stake here!"  
  
"I don't see how! You know as well as I do that Potter, Granger and Weasley love to 'bend' the rules! There is no proof what so ever that that is not exactly what they are doing this time!"  
  
"Oh dear Minerva, there is proof all around you. The torches won't light you say? And no single wand will agree to the 'lumos' command? That, my dear, is proof enough all ready without me having to remind you that three students have gone missing! It takes a very powerful spell to cause this much trouble... And unfortunately, I think I know who cast it..."  



	3. When Darkness Engulfs You

When There's Nothing Else to Cling To  
  
Chapter 3: When Darkness Engulfs You  
  
Co-written by GoldenPhoenix and WitchGirl  
  
Summary: When the lights literally go out at Hogwarts, Hermione is drawn into a world she doesn't know to face an evil she never even dreamed possible. It will take Ron's determination and Harry's bravery to save her, but is that all it will take?  
  
A/N: When there was a black out, me and GoldenPhoenix were inspired to write this piece. We were trapped in McDonald's for an hour! We had plenty of different titles for it and finally settled on this one.  
  
Disclaimer: We own nothing!  
  
---------------------------------  
  
"HERMIONE!" Harry and Ron screamed, but there was no reply, "HERMIONE GRANGER! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!"  
  
"Potter?" Snape came, looking around, confused, "Weasley?"  
  
"Uh oh," Ron whispered, "I think we shouted a little too loud,"  
  
"Where are you two! Show yourselves!"  
  
"Run!" Harry whispered, and they silently slipped away down the corridor. They heard Snape curse to himself.  
  
"I must be hearing things!" he said to himself, "Dumbledore is very angry but why won't he tell us what is so dangerous?" he muttered and walked off.  
  
"Dumbledore's mad? Danger? Sounds like our kind of thing Harry," Ron smiled at his companion.  
  
"But remember, our first priority is to find Hermione!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!"  
  
  
Hermione ran to the door that marked the entrance to the castle, but it was locked. She tried windows, but when she would try to climb out, an invisible force would throw her back in again. The pale light from the eerily full moon was the only light she had. There was something about that moon. She sat down in a corner and began to cry. She heard the voice again, but now it sounded as if it was speaking directly to her.  
  
"Hermione..."  
  
"WHAT! WHAT DO YOU WANT! Oh God, am I completely insane?" she sobbed.  
  
"Hello, Hermione," the voice cooed.  
  
"Who are you?" she asked, confidently wiping away her tears.  
  
"At last, my guest has arrived..."  
  
"This must be a dream, it has to be. Otherwise, I've gone nutters!"  
  
"Well, that's up to you to decide, isn't it?" the voice asked, "If it's a dream, then you know that soon you will be waking up safe and sound in your bed. If you're crazy, then you know that this is all just a delusion that your mind created. But if it's real... If it's real, then you know how much trouble you're in and you know that you will never see your friends and family again. You know that you will never see Hogwarts again. You know you will never leave this place... Alive,"  
  
"NO! That's impossible! How can this place be real, how can it? This is impossible!" Hermione began to cry again.  
  
"That's it, cry yourself into an even deeper despair. You're mine now..."  
  
  
"Let's go to the library!"  
  
"OK, now you're really starting to act like Hermione," Ron looked at his best friend, concerned.  
  
"No, Ron, something happened there! That was the last place we saw her, now let's GO!"  
  
"OK, OK, I'm coming,"  
  
  
"Dumbledore, I demand to know what is going on!"  
  
"You should know, Sybil," Dumbledore looked at the thin woman in bangles. Trelawny fell silent.  
  
"With all do respect, Headmaster, I believe we would all like to know what kind of danger we are dealing with," Snape stepped forward.  
  
"Very well. It all started years and years ago, before this castle was even built..."  
  
  
"Have you heard?"  
  
"They're all gone! No one knows where!"  
  
"Pansy Parkinson, that Slytherin said she saw them in the hall," The Gryffindors were gossiping, too excited and/or scared to sleep. It was three AM now, and the whole school already knew that three Gryffindors, including Harry Potter, were all missing.  
  
"They say the first to go was that Weasley boy,"  
  
"No, no, it was Potter, stupid!"  
  
"Actually, you're both wrong," Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown approached the two arguing fourth years, "It was Hermione who went missing first," Lavender informed them.  
  
"Yeah, we were in the Entrance Hall and Harry mistook me and Lavender both for Hermione. They were looking for her,"  
  
"Whatever," the boys said and continued their dispute.  
  
  
Hermione was spinning. Spinning into the unknown. Bitter blackness swallowed her up. She was drowning; drowning in her own fear. She didn't even know which way was up any more, but in this stage of the game, she couldn't be sure of anything.  



	4. When the Door is Opened...

Chapter 4: When the Door is Opened...  
  
Co-Written by GoldenPhoenix and WitchGirl  
  
"Well, here we are! What do you suggest we do know, Sherlock Hermione?" Ron asked.  
  
"I don't know. Hey, is it just me, or does this library look a little... dusty to you?"  
  
"It's not you. When ever I think of books, I think of them collecting dust,"  
  
"No, seriously. Look around. Doesn't this place look a little odd to you?"  
  
"Yeah... It does look a bit different now that you mention it... Wonder what it could be..." Ron looked hard around the old library which appeared more ancient then ever. They looked around, but Hermione was nowhere to be seen.  
  
"Did you hear that?" Harry stopped.  
  
"That almost sounds like Moaning Myrtle!" and the two boys sprinted off and out the library down the hall.  
  
  
"So what you are saying, sir," Snape said, slowly, "Is that the reason we can't find the three students, is because they are not even in Hogwarts?"  
  
"No, Severus, I did not say that. I said that he has taken her to Zaphire. And that means that he has discovered a way to open the door to it, which is not a good thing at all," Dumbledore replied.  
  
"But Headmaster, if they are in this 'Zaphire' place, then they can't be at Hogwarts!"  
  
"Minerva, have you been listening? Zaphire is all around us as is Seadene and Hades Realm. It is in the very walls of Hogwarts itself; it is in the air you breath; it is in the hearts of the people you know; Hogwarts is Zaphire! You may not be able to see it or feel it, but you look it in the eye every night and you touch it every day. It is a whole other world that we know as little about as anything else. The four worlds, Minerva, exist in one space. And the Vikings knew. So you see, they are in Hogwarts, but they are on another plane of existence! How they got there, I do not know. I only know where the entrance is and who opened the door. And I only know that if those children do not find a way out on their own, they will surely die!"  
  
"I may not understand your concept of these other worlds, Dumbledore, but if I got at least something out of the story you told us, it was that you said that You-Know-Who opened the gate to one of these worlds and trapped the students in question inside. If this is true, then is there anything we can do about it?" McGonagall inquired. Dumbledore bowed his head.  
  
"I am afraid not. If they do not find a way out of that nightmare before 7 o'clock this morning, they will be doomed to live an eternity there,"  
  
  
"Hermione!" Ron and Harry screamed, tearing off the invisibility cloak. They saw a girl, hugging her knees by the great oak door. She looked up. Her face was tear-blotched, but her eyes widened as she saw the two boys.  
  
"Harry! Ron!" she cried in delight, "Where am I?"  
  
"What do you mean, you're in Hogwarts!"  
  
"I... I am? But it's nothing like Hogwarts! Oh Harry! Ron, I'm loosing my mind!" she began to cry again.  
  
"I hate to say it, but I think she already has," Ron whispered to Harry. They carried her back to the common room but the picture of the fat lady was gone. There was only a hole in the wall leading to a cold, damp room.  
  
"What's going on here?!" Ron screamed.  
  
"Calm down, Ron, maybe we just took the wrong passage,"  
  
"I don't think so, Harry, I've been to the common room from the Entrance Hall billions of times and I think I'd know the way. Do you think we're going crazy, too?"  
  
"Don't be stupid, Ron, we can find it. Like you said, we've been to the common room loads of times from the Entrance Hall, now there must be a way to find it!"  
  
"It's no use!" Hermione had given up, "We're trapped in this place forever!"  
  
"Hermione, don't say that!" Ron ordered as much as for her as for himself.  
  
"If only I hadn't gone into the library..." Hermione said, dazed and confused. Ron had pulled Hermione's arm onto his shoulder as they followed the quick-paced Harry in pursuit of an exit.  
  
"Yeah, stupid good-for-nothing library-"  
  
"WAIT!" Harry stopped and spun around to Ron, "The library! That's how this all started! Remember? Hermione followed music there-"  
  
"It was a singing book!" Hermione told him, stubbornly.  
  
"Yeah, whatever you say, Hermione," Ron rolled his eyes.  
  
"Anyway, she followed that music she heard to the library! And when we went in after her, she was gone! And then later, we went in, and it looked different-"  
  
"Did it look older?" Hermione asked, "As if it had been untouched for years?"  
  
"Yeah," said Ron, "What is going on here?"  
  
Hermione seemed to come back to her senses for a moment, "I picked up this book for some extra reading. It was on the list that Professor Binns gave us for optional background reading. It sounded very mythological to me; nothing at all the kind of book Binns would recommend. It talked about the Vikings and before Hogwarts. Oh, I wish I had been more awake when I read it! I can't remember!"  
  
"Was it in the library?" Ron asked. Hermione nodded and Harry spun around again and headed this time for the library.  
  
"Then it has to be there!" he said, "It has to!"  
  
"But Harry-"  
  
"No, Hermione, it will be there. If it can give us any clue to where we are, it will be there," Harry said mostly to himself then to Hermione.  
  
  
"Professor, what's happening?" Dean Thomas asked McGonagall when she came into the room again.  
  
"Where's my brother?" Ginny Weasley, Ron's sister, demanded, standing resolutely next to Dean.  
  
"We have a right to know!" Seamus Finnigan appeared at Dean's side.  
  
"That... That you do, children... But... But family only, for now, please," McGonagall was very pale. She took Ginny by the hand and led her to her dormitory.  
  
  
"Hermione, where did you find it?" Harry asked.  
  
"It was in this section, I swear it! It was called the Viking Religious Book. The chapter was... Oh! It was Chapter 4, the Tri-Corner!" Hermione stopped. Her eyes widened and her face drained of color.  
  
"What is it?" Ron asked. Hermione didn't hear him. She heard a cold, shrill voice calling her name.  
  
"Hermione..." suddenly, her face took a determined look and she fell into a trance and began to speak, as if to defy the voice.  
  
"Before Hogwarts was even built and when Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff were only toddlers, there were ruins. Old Viking ruins. The Vikings knew valuable information that muggles these days barely believe true. They knew of the four worlds. The four alternate universes each one completely different. Three of them were inhabited and one was not. Those envied the ones who went to Seadene and took pity on those who went to Hades Realm. This world that we know of was known as 'Earth.' This is where the inhabitants of all three realms are born. Some go to the other worlds at young ages, others leave when they are old but they all leave by ways of death. Seadene is what people call today heaven while Hades Realm is what they'd call Hell. The Vikings had discovered a way to make a door to these other dimensions and they built a door to each realm calling them the tri-corner. They were placed in an equilateral triangle and the middle of the triangle was a source of great power. When a person would die, they would hold a burial service here. If they led a good life, the bodies would be wished well and pushed into Seadene. If they were bad... They were given no prayer and thrown into Hades Realm. There was one piece of information the Vikings had lacked, though. What the third domain, Zaphire, was for. They thought it was just there, but they were mistaken. Zaphire was a land of magic. Since no one had used it, it was neither good nor evil. But someday, the Vikings would have discovered what it was for had they not been over thrown. And so their great tri-corner was left as a ruin and the Hogwarts castle was built over it. But the power remained. The entrances to the other worlds still exist if one knows how to open them. These days unknown forces decide the judging of which world you go to after death. The entrances are as follows: Zaphire, the library, Seadene, Dumbledore's office, and Hades Realm, Slytherin common room. The kingdoms have been closed for years and no one but the Vikings knew how to open it. But what if someone, somehow, discovered how to open it and got to it. If this person was good, great and wonderful things could be unleashed and discovered. It could be used as a secret Garden of Eden. Loads of good magic could be discovered from this world. But if that person were bad, then terrible things would happen. Instead of a secret Garden of Eden, it would become a secret Garden of Torture. Instead of good magic and discoveries, evil magic and unknown destructive secrets could be unleashed. Whoever discovers the way to open could use it to his advantage. He could do almost anything..." And with that, her eyes rolled and she fell to the floor...  



	5. When the Last Flame Flickers

Chapter 5: When the last flame flickers  
  
A/N (as written by WitchGirl): Sorry it took so long to get this story up. I am basically the one writng most of it now and I was really busy with some other fics, so I repeat, I am sorry this took a really long time.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"What the heck was that?!" the fear in Ron's voice was rising.  
  
"I don't know, but we have to get out of here. Hermione could be in trouble," As Harry reached down to pick Hermione up, Ron pulled him back upright.  
  
"Ron, what's your prob-" But Harry stopped. There was a look of intense fear on his face.  
  
"Does... Does that look like Hermione's normal look to you?" he asked. Harry looked at Hermione's face. Her eyes had snapped open. They were cold and glowed red. An evil grin spread across her face. She began to sing to the tune of a child's song.  
  
"Don't even speak,  
Don't even breath  
When the clock strikes seven, you'll never leave.  
  
"There's one way out,  
But one alone  
And you'll have to make a sacrifice  
Of your own.  
  
"But past the seventh hour,  
There's no turning back,  
Your past was a waste,  
And your future's black.  
  
"He knows you're here,  
He sees the fear in your eyes,  
The time has come,  
For you to die.  
  
"He's comin' for you,  
You can feel it inside,  
You're running in circles  
And he'll find you when you hide.  
  
"Shout if you want,  
Scream like a bird,  
But you're gonna die screaming  
And you won't be heard.  
  
"The seventh hour,  
Will be your last,  
You're then his for the taking  
You will die at last.   
  
"At seven you're his,  
Without a doubt  
Look forward to find death,  
Look behind to find-" Hermione blinked and her red eyes returned to normal. The horrific grin on her face disappeared as well. She rubbed her head, "Oh, I'm sorry, I must have tripped or something. Come on! It must be late! We'll miss the feast!"  
  
"She doesn't remember," Harry told Ron, who's face still held an expression of deep fear.  
  
"Remember what? And what's wrong with you two, you look like you've seen a ghost,"  
  
"Um, Hermione, what time do you think it is?" Harry asked.  
  
"Seven, seven-thirty... Why?"  
  
"Because it's more like three-thirty... in the morning,"  
  
"What?! What happened! Harry, did you drag me along on one of your late-night excursions without my permission? You know how I feel about you breaking the-"  
  
"Hermione, look around! Does this look like the Hogwarts you remember?" Harry interrupted, not wanting to here one of Hermione's lectures. Hermione looked around.  
  
"It's so... Dark. Darker than usual. And the cobwebs and dust... I remember!" She said, a look of comprehension dawning on her face, "We were looking for the Viking Religious Book! And then I heard the voice... And I must admit, after that, it's a bit blurry,"  
  
"You started speaking a passage out of the book. Then, you fainted. But that's not the spooky part yet!" Ron said. Harry and Ron explained what they remembered of the song and slowly, what Hermione had sung came back to her.  
  
"So, that must mean that someone opened Zaphire and brought us into it... It must be someone evil because otherwise, it would be cheerful instead of dismal... Harry, you don't think-"  
  
"Don't say it, Hermione!" Ron pleaded, but Harry knew what she was going to say.  
  
"Voldemorte opened the door and invited us into his little shop of horrors..."  
  
  
"Ginny, what's wrong?" the girl was sobbing uncontrollably in the Gryffindor common room. People were trying to find out why.  
  
"She's worried for her brother, that's all," said one fifth year, but Ginny shook her head.  
  
"He's... He's... Oh, Ron!" she wailed, "there's no way, no chance, no hope..."  
  
"Ginny, where is he?" Dean asked.  
  
"He's not coming back!" she sobbed, "None of them are coming back! They're practically dead already!" and as people whispered and shrieked what Ginny had just said, the rumor was misheard and said incorrectly and soon, people were saying:  
  
"They're dead! Oh no, Harry Potter's dead!" and they're frightful cries echoed through the night.  



	6. When the Fire Goes Out

Chapter 6: When the fire goes out  
  
"We should split up," Harry suggested.  
  
"Are you crazy? That's the last thing we should do!" Hermione declared.  
  
"It's the fastest way to get out of here," Harry said.  
  
"Oh OK!" Hermione crossed her arms.  
  
"I'll search the Great Hall for an exit. It was the last place we were when the lights went out. Hermione, you look around the library, you know it best. And Ron, you can... Ron? Hermione, where's Ron?"  
  
"I don't know... He was here a minute ago... Maybe he already left,"  
  
"I sure hope so..."  
  
  
Ron leaned against a gargoyle, clumsily.  
  
"Password?" Ron jumped at the voice.  
  
"Uh... excuse me?" he asked, looking around. No one replied. He looked at the gargoyle and remembered something.  
  
"Um..." he tried to think of candy, "Chocolate Frogs, Sugar Quills, Every Flavor Beans, uh…" he remembered Harry telling him of Dumbledore's fondness for lemon drops. He tried that. The gargoyle didn't move. Of course, Ron didn't expect it to work. It had been the password a couple years ago. He sighed.  
  
"I'm never going to get out of here! Stupid Hermione! She always does things like this! If it's not walking off into another world, it's making us actually do our homework! Really, I don't know why I believe any of this anyway. I mean, what is all this about Zaphire and Hades Realm and Seadene and- wait, hold on!" Ron cried. As he mentioned Seadene, the gargoyle hopped aside, allowing him to enter, "Right, then!" Ron grinned, "In we go!"  
  
  
Hermione looked around at the books. She blew some dust off of a book and opened it. She saw words on the page, but they seemed to float up off the pages into the air and Hermione watched them flutter away out the window. She closed the book and placed it back on the shelf. She was so busy looking around at the dusty place she thought she knew, that she tripped and scraped her knee. Rubbing it, she looked behind her to see what she'd tripped on. It was an old leather book with gold lettering. Hermione let out a gasp.  
  
"The Viking Religious Book!" she cried, "Yes!" she opened the book and was glad to see the words stayed on the page. She flipped to chapter four, about the Tri-Corner. After the passage she barely remembered reciting, there were detailed descriptions of the other worlds. Unfortunately, since little was known of Zaphire, it had the least information. She read it anyway, trying to find the exact location. She squinted hard at the book in the dimness and found it so difficult to read, she pulled out her wand.  
  
"Lumos!" a tiny light lit. She was in the middle of rereading the information when she realized what had just happened.  
  
"Wait a minute," she frowned and looked at her wand, "Did it just obey me?" She stared at it for a minute and then turned back to the book, reading on.  
  
  
Harry walked aimlessly around the hall. He couldn't exactly decide what to do or what he was looking for. When they had entered Zaphire, it had looked like Hogwarts, except for some differences. He didn't really remember actually stepping in through a secret door or anything like that. And he didn't really know how he was going to find a way out. He hoped Hermione was having more luck in the library.  
  
"This is useless!" he screamed to no one and sank to the floor, "Hermione was right! We'll never find a way out of here! I wouldn't be surprised if Malfoy's laughing right now!"  
  
  
"OK, now I know I heard something!" Malfoy cried. He looked around. He remembered people telling him that Potter, Granger, and Weasley were dead. And idea occurred to him.  
  
"If they're dead..." he thought, "There ought to be bodies," he grinned, "I won't believe it until I find they're bodies!" and with that, he slipped out of the Slytherin common room, unnoticed.  
  
  
Dumbledore was pacing. He wasn't quite sure what he could do to help the three.  
  
"You say she just entered the library of her own free will?"  
  
"Yes, Headmaster." McGonagall nodded.  
  
"Well!" Snape cried, jumping to his feet, "What right does she have to wander around when something like this has happened! She may read up on things, but she isn't too good with the common sense!"  
  
"Severus," Dumbledore looked at him, "I don't think it was really of her own free will. It just appeared that way."  
  
"You don't suppose she was put under a curse, do you?" McGonagall asked.  
  
"Perhaps."  
  
"And what of the boys? They will follow that girl to the ends of the earth! Surely they weren't cursed!"  
  
"You are quite right, Severus, they would follow her. And I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. If I had to have students lost in that realm, I would rather it be those three than anyone else in this school," Dumbledore said.  
  
  
Ron entered what should have been Dumbledore's office. It was lacking quite a few things, including furniture and Fawks, the Phoenix. He sighed.  
  
"I won't find anything in here." Just as he was about to leave, he noticed something in the room. It was a wooden door. It had an arched frame instead of rectangular. It had intricate carvings on it and the wood seemed to shine. It was the only thing in the room that didn't look like it was just another object collecting dust. The way the door's wood was so delicately polished made it look as if it were brand new.  
  
"Does Dumbledore have this in his office?" he asked himself while approaching the door. He took a deep breath.  
  
"Right then," he sighed, working up his courage. He placed his hand on the brass handle, and turned.  
  
  
Hermione walked briskly through the rows of books. She knew exactly where the opening was. And soon, she was standing right before it. The entrance to the library was never anything special in her opinion. But now, it held the key for them to be able to leave this place. She was so excited she could barely keep her wand steady.  
  
  
Harry was tired. He decided he would find nothing in the Great Hall and so he was trying to find his way to the library to look for Hermione. He was still worried about Ron. Where had he gotten off to? He looked around and noticed a passageway leading towards the dungeons. He remembered it from when he and Ron had followed Malfoy when they had thought he was the Slytherin Heir. Looking around, he decided he would give the Slytherin common room a shot.  
  
  
Ron stepped into a garden. Green trees were scattered across it and it had a brook running through it. The grass was greener than Ron had ever seen. In the middle of it all, there was a pavilion. He walked over to it and when he entered, there were at least a dozen beautiful women, all dressed in white.  
  
"Welcome," they smiled sweetly. Ron giggled stupidly.  
  
"I think I like this place," he sighed with dazed bliss and a large grin. Two gorgeous brown-haired women led him to a comfy chair in the center of the room.  
  
"Please have a seat," one of them said, "I'm Miranda. This is Claudia," she gestured to the other brunette. Ron sat down and made himself comfortable.  
  
"Could you tell me where-" but he stopped as he saw a lovely blond dangle grapes in front of him.  
  
"I'm Lila," she grinned and fed him a grape. Ron just lay back in the chair, forgetting his worries and letting himself become bewitched by the femme fatales.  
  
Hermione opened the book and read.  
  
"No one in this time knows how to open either world..." she read. But Voldemort must have found some way...  
  
"I have an idea!" she grinned. She held the book under her arm, closed her eyes, and sat on the floor. She didn't know what she was doing or what had given her the idea to do it. She relaxed her mind and pictured a doorway. She willed it to open. She opened her eyes again and looked straight through the library entrance. She took a deep breath, scribbled a note to Harry and Ron, placed the book down, and exited the library.  
  
  
Harry made his way through the dungeons to Slytherin common room. It had been a while since Malfoy had led them their, and half of it was guesswork. As he walked down the hall, he noticed someone pass him. They both stopped, backs to each other, at different ends of the hall. They then spun around at the exact same time, pointed at each other and cried:  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"  
  
"I was looking for your dead body! You're supposed to be dead!" Malfoy snapped, "I demand to know why you aren't dead yet!"  
  
"Gee, Malfoy, sorry to disappoint you. I didn't mean to be alive, it just happened!" Harry cried.  
  
"Why are you here? Your supposed to be in your common room! Everyone's looking all over for you. I heard you were dead. It got me excited. Thanks for ruining my fun Potter!"  
  
"As I said, Malfoy, I'm terribly sorry to ruin your fun, but I for one am happy to be alive!" Harry snapped. Malfoy shrugged.  
  
"Whatever! I'm gonna go back and tell Slytherin the bad news." Malfoy started heading back towards his common room.  
  
"What bad news?"  
  
"That Potter's still alive."  
  
  
Hermione walked down the halls. As she did so, candles began to light themselves. Hermione gasped. She heard similar gasps throughout the hall and she knew it was no echo.  
  
"The lights are back!" someone called. Hermione's face lit up.  
  
"Professor McGonagall!" Hermione cried. The woman at the other end of the hall looked up in surprise.  
  
"Good gracious, child!" McGonagall shouted, running at the girl, "Where have you been?!"  
  
"I must see Professor Dumbledore! It's a matter of life and death!" 


End file.
